Holding Out For A Hero
by lucas4brooke4ever
Summary: 416 Aftermath. Will they be able to move on with their lives and leave that night behind them or will it haunt them for many nights to come. Sometimes problems run deeper than first thought and those who you thought were strong begin to crumble. BL
1. Help

So I thought I might try something new. It starts off 4 nights after the attack.

Lyrics are Help by the Beatles.

I hope you enjoy

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He rolled over to face the alarm clock. His eyes struggling to open wide enough to focus on the red digits facing him. 

1:13 am

He groaned and sat up in bed as he contemplated switching on the lamp. But then reality dawned on him that he was not alone. For the past few days he had been joined by his girlfriend Peyton Sawyer and his former girlfriend Brooke Davis.

As he carefully repositioned himself and his covers he turned to check over the two girls like he had done several times over the past few nights. Only much to his confusion there was only one laying beside him.

Worry consumed him. And as much as he wished he could just layback down on his bed and sleep he knew he had to find the missing girl.

As he shifted himself from the comfort of his bed he was careful not to wake the remaining sleeping girl. She hadn't been sleeping well either as of late and he for one did not want to be the cause of anymore lost sleep.

The last few nights had been tough on all of them, obviously the two girls more than himself, but it hadn't been easy for him by any means. After the incident Peyton has asked to stay at his, which of course he had agreed to, he had extended the offer to Brooke also but she had declined. Peyton had been insistent that Brooke had to be with her and that Brooke shouldn't be on her own but Brooke had maintained that she would be fine. He wasn't surprised. Brooke hadn't set foot in his house since the day when she has asked him to the banquet. And even given the situation he had still expected her to decline the offer.

He had helped Peyton pack some of her belonging and they had driven back to his. Once inside it had already turned midnight but Peyton clearly had no intention of sleeping that night. Just like any normal person would he had offered keep her company.

They stayed up talking, that was until there was a knock at the door. He remembered the look on Peyton's face vividly, one of complete fear and terror. It was understandable under the circumstances and even though the police now had Derek in custody it didn't stop the fear from taking hold of the blonde. Lucas made his way to the door and slowly opened it, even feeling fear himself.

As soon as he saw the brunette standing on his doorstep he relaxed, not just because of the relief that was now flooding through him but because he was genuinely pleased to see her. Even though they were no longer a couple, it didn't mean he stopped caring about her, it wasn't something you could just turn off. And knowing she was all alone with no one to take care of her only made him worry more.

His eyes soon fell on her attire, she was wearing a pair of white fluffy slippers and her pink pyjamas. The brunette hung her head low as if in shame, she had a bag hanging on her right shoulder. The second she had looked up he knew she had been crying, he could still see where her tears had rolled down her cheeks, her eyes were puffy and the usual immaculate make up was no where to be seen, all that remained was the black smudged mascara.

He quickly opened the door wider and guided her in. She still was yet to speak. Peyton had leapt to her feet and pulled the brunette tightly to her, clearly pleased and relieved to see her. After five minutes and a cup of coffee Brooke had finally spoke. She had tried going back to Rachel's empty house, pretending like everything was ok, but it wasn't, she wasn't. And when she had climbed into her bed and switched off the light it was a matter of seconds before the light was back on and Brooke was out of bed packing her bag as quickly as she could.

And here they all were 3 nights later. That night's events still fresh in their minds.

He slipped through his open door looking for the missing girl, he made his way to the seating area but there was no one to be found, not even a sign anyone had been there, he then proceeded onto the kitchen, flicking on the light as he entered but only to reveal once more an empty room.

He was about to turn and head back but then he heard it. It was only faint, but it was loud enough for him to hear it.

He made his way over to the end of the kitchen and there she was. Tears rolling down her face. Her head resting against the wall for support.

"Are you ok?' He asked but quickly realised that was not the question to ask. Of course she wasn't ok, why would she be up at this time, crying alone in his kitchen if she was ok.

She gave no reply, just continued to sob.

Help, I need somebody,  
Help, not just anybody,  
Help, you know I need someone, help.

"You're going to get through this, we all are" Lucas soothed as he attempted to comfort the brunette. Seeing her like this broke his heart. Since she had arrived he had only seen her cry twice, then, and now. She had been at Peyton's side saying and doing all the right things, giving her hugs when needed and listening to her every word. It hadn't occurred to him that Brooke was struggling. She seemed to be ok, maybe not her usual bubbly self but not many people would be after going through something like that.

Again no reply.

He wished he knew what to say, but no matter how hard he searched for the right words they just weren't coming. He was totally lost. What was he meant to do? She wasn't like other people, she worked in a whole different way, he used to think he understood her and knew how to deal and help her through things like this, but staring at the fragile brunette in front of him now he knew that he no longer did.

"Do you want me to get Peyton?' He asked rising to his feet. Not sure what else to do. Part of him wanted to wrap his arms around her and just hold her but he knew he couldn't.

He turned to leave and fetch the blonde but then her weak fragile voice sounded.

"Don't"

One word. That's all it was. But it was enough to make him turn back round.

He made his way back to the brunette and crouched down so he was on her level.

"I don't know what you want me to do" Lucas sighed helplessly, clearly frustrated with himself and his failure to help the brunette.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,  
I never needed anybody's help in any way.  
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,  
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.

They sat in silence for what felt like fifteen minutes, but in reality was only five.

"Don't tell Peyton" Brooke said breaking the silence.

He looked at her confused, hoping for a little more.

She takes in a deep breath before continuing. "She's going through enough right now, I don't want her to worry about me" Brooke shrugged as if it was no big deal.

He nodded his head now realising what she meant. An overwhelming sense of guilt rushed through him. He had never meant to come between the two friends. It had just happened. And yet Brooke's love for Peyton seemed stronger than ever. He didn't know many friendships that could survive what they had, it only made him admire them more.

"Look at me. I'm a mess" She attempted to laugh but the boy sitting before her did not join in.

"You're not a mess, you're just going through a rough time"

She didn't respond. She didn't know how to. She had been through rough times before, but there had always been some sort of light at the end, something giving her a bit of hope or faith. But she didn't have that now. It was weird, breaking up with Lucas had been hard but right now she could honestly say she felt worse.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down  
And I do appreciate you being round.  
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,  
Won't you please, please help me.

"I'm sorry" Brooke spoke causing Lucas to bring his eyes away from the kitchen furniture and back to the brunette.

"What have you got be sorry for?" He asked. Brooke wasn't really the 'I'm sorry' kind of girl, so when she did say it you knew she meant it.

"Imposing on you like this. It's not fair on you. You have Peyton to look after, the last thing you two need is me around." She knew what it was like to have your boyfriend hang out with an ex and she was not about to put Peyton through that.

"Brooke. I am glad you're here. So is Peyton. In fact I would be hurt if you weren't here." And that was the truth. He wanted her here, he wanted her close to him, so he knew she was safe, same with Peyton.

"You know even if I had outstayed my welcome you probably wouldn't say anything. You're just too nice. You always were." Brooke recalled as her finger traced round one of the reminders of that night, a dark blue bruise on her leg.

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked as he watched her every move intently.

"No. God knows I wish there were more like you." She huffed as she remembered Chase's behaviour and how he had dumped her before Prom. She couldn't say she blamed him but it still hurt nonetheless. She was meant to be moving on but to her it seemed she was just moving back.

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,  
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.  
But every now and then I feel so insecure,  
I know that I just need you like I've never done before.

"You know Brooke, if you ever need to talk I am here right" He said gently rested his hand on her knee.

"I know. But it's probably best I go to Haley or someone" Brooke answered as she removed his hand from her knee and placed is on the floor.

"I don't understand"

She hesitates not sure she should explain. Should she tell him how it felt to have Peyton always coming between them and how she didn't want to be the one to come between them now or did she tell him something else. "You and Peyton are so happy, I just don't want to get in the way."

She went with something else.

She looked across at the boy, but he wasn't looking in her direction. She knew he didn't understand.

She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down  
And I do appreciate you being round.  
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,  
Won't you please, please help me.

"Why were you crying?" He asked catching her a little off guard as he turned to focus on her once more.

"You know me. I'm an emotional wreck." She answered but as soon as the words left her mouth she knew her answer was not good enough, at least not for the boy sitting with her.

"Come on Brooke. I know you better than that, why were you_ really_ crying?" He persisted. It probably would have been easy to just go back to bed rather than question her, but he just couldn't, he couldn't leave.

"I'm scared" She spoke, almost in a whisper.

"Scared? Of what? Derek?" He questioned.

"Yeah him……. being alone, life. I just feel so weak, so helpless you know."

Her answer startled him a little. This was a girl who loved life, she didn't want to miss a second, always on the go, trying something new, and now she was scared to live her life?

"You're not weak. You're one of the strongest people I know" He reminded her. When Keith had died she had been the one by his side, when he was in hospital, again she was by his side. Even when she had been hurting too, she didn't let it show, she held him together, she held Peyton together. But what he had always wondered was who was holding her together?

"I'm not strong. You all just think I am. Trust me on that. Look at me Lucas, I am sitting on your kitchen floor crying. Does that say strong to you?" He heard her ask but he knew he wasn't meant to answer. He wasn't sure when he had ever seen the brunette like this, he had seen her cry, he had seen her angry, but he had never seen her so…..broken.

"Brooke no one expects you to be strong all the time, it's ok to be like this."

"You should go back to bed, I've get you up long enough." Brooke said signalling that this conversation was now over.

"Are you coming?" He asked as he pulled himself up from the cold floor.

"I'll be there in a bit"

"Well I'll stay too then" He said, about to sit back down but the girl's words stopped him halfway.

"Really Lucas you can go. I'll be fine. I'm Brooke Davis remember." As much as he wanted to believe she was ok, he knew she wasn't. He didn't object though. He was tired and there wasn't much point in him staying with her when she clearly did not want him there.

She flashed him a smile but unlike her usual smile there was no spark. It was simply ordinary.

"How could I ever forget," He said returning a smile. She wasn't ok, she knew that and he knew that but now apparently was not the time to discuss that.

"Lucas" Brooke spoke as he approached the door. She clambered to her feet and rested the palms of her hands over the back of a nearby chair.

"Yeah" He turned back. Part of him hoping that she was going to ask him to stay.

"Thanks"

She didn't.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down  
And I do appreciate you being round.  
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,  
Won't you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.

She could already feel the tears threatening to fall before he had even left the room. She heard his footsteps as he walked away, and the tears wasted no time as they began to trickle down her already tear-stained cheeks. Her eyes stung, her cheeks were sore, and her heart, well that remained in pieces. And the worst part was, she didn't see it get any better anytime soon.

It took her seven minutes and thirty-three seconds before she decided to return to the bedroom. She silently made her way back to the bedroom making sure not to wake anyone, as she edged his bedroom door a little wider she could make out the sleeping shapes that were her former best friend and ex boyfriend. She slid her way back into her side of the bed and pulled the heavy covers tightly over her small frame.

The rain could be heard falling outside, she could hear it pattering on the roof above. The room was dark, the only light came from the alarm clock and when a car drove by, it's headlights filling the room with light if only for a second. She lay there still. She could feel Peyton shift her weight beside her. She knew she should probably sleep but her eyes remained wide open.

She didn't want to sleep. Sleep meant either reliving it all over again and having countless nightmares, or the alternative, dreams, which simply didn't come true

And that was worse than any nightmare.

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I really hope you liked it, please review so I know if I should continue or not.

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	2. Words Are Not Enough

**Thank you so much for your lovely reviews. I contemplated leaving it as a one shot but then I saw you guys wanted me to continue so figured I should. **

** I hope you enjoy.**

**x X x **

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"Is she still sleeping?" Peyton asked as Lucas cracked the eggs into the pan. Her wet hair dripping across the floor. The shower had been cold, not that there hadn't been enough hot water, she just wanted it that way. It seemed simpler, easier even. 

"Yeah I just checked on her." He answered, keeping his eyes on the eggs now sizzling in the pan. He had been careful not to wake her when he checked on her and had pulled the covers over her ensuring she did not get a chill.

"Maybe we should wake her, I mean the morning is nearly over and you know how Brooke hates to waste the day." Peyton reminded him. She remembered when Brooke would ride round to her house bright and early not wanting to miss a single second. Nine years on and she was still exactly the same.

"I think we should leave her for a bit longer, it's not like any of us have slept that great over the past few days." He reasoned. He didn't like keeping things from Peyton but Brooke asked him not to tell her and he knew it was not his place.

"No I guess not." Peyton sighed. The first night she had not slept at all. None of them had. The second night with the light on she had managed 4 hours. Then the third night they tried turning the light off, that was the toughest. She had woken suddenly in the middle of the night. The light from the bathroom shone into the hallway, she assumed that's where Brooke was as the brunettes place currently remained unoccupied. She managed to get back to sleep and then woke again a matter of hours later, this time Brooke was back by her side.

Last night has been her best night. Of course she had still thought about Derek, how could she not, but things finally seemed to be looking better. She had two people holding her together and as long as she had them she knew she would be just fine.

Brooke was her rock, she always had been. When things got bad Brooke was there for her, she would be the one with box of tissues to dry her tears, she would be the one standing by her side helping her fight her battles. She had always been there, well nearly always. As for Lucas, well that was slightly more complicated, but one thing she knew for sure was that in her hour of need he would be there.

"How many do you want one or two?" Lucas's voice sounded bringing Peyton out of her thoughts.

"Oh one's fine" Peyton answered. She smiled as she watched him crack another egg. It was strange how small little things like watching her boyfriend cook breakfast could bring a smile to her face. She didn't even need to ask, he just did it, just like he didn't have to ask Brooke to stay too, but he did, he had taken such great care of both of them, she really couldn't have asked for more from him.

"And how many do you think Brooke will want?" He asked. Every morning since the attack Lucas had got breakfast for them all, something different each time.

"Try none." The curly head blonde laughed. "She hates them remember."

"I guess I forgot" Lucas said sheepishly. Feeling rather embarrassed. How had he managed to forget? All these things, which he had once known, seemed to be slipping away from him and he had no idea how to make it stop. He knew he and Brooke hadn't exactly been close since the break up but she was still his friend, and as her friend he should know these things. _But he no longer did._

"You know what we should make?" Peyton said excitedly as she moved closer to her boyfriend. She ran her fingers though his short blonde hair.

He turned his head giving the curly blonde his full attention.

"Pancakes" Peyton spoke, grinning from ear to ear as she did so.

He smiled at how happy she seemed. It was good to see her smile, it was good to see her so happy, especially given everything they had happened. "Mhmmm now that sounds good. I haven't had pancakes since……" He trailed off as he tried to remember.

_It didn't take him long._

"You know what, I can't remember when" He smiled and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. He kissed her lightly on the top of her head and breathed in the smell of her hair. He knew the shampoo well. Brooke used it when she had stayed and ever since then his mom had insisted on buying the same one. He didn't question it, just put it down as being one of those girly things.

-

" Something smells good" Brooke said stretching her arms out as she entered the kitchen still dressed in her pyjamas.

Her eyes had finally closed around dawn when the light had started streaming into the bedroom. Lucas and Peyton had still been sound asleep and by that point the sound of their breathing was somewhat soothing. As the sun rose her eyelids closed, it was at that moment when she knew the night was over and she could finally succumb to the almighty urge to sleep.

"We've made pancakes" Peyton smiled at the brunette. Her now empty plate pushed to the side.

"I haven't had them in forever." Brooke said whilst pulling her hair back into a messy bun. She watched Lucas place his latest stack of pancakes onto a plate.

"But you love them" Peyton stated slightly baffled. There were two, well three foods that Brooke could not do without. Chocolate, ice-cream and pancakes. When they were little she and Brooke would always demand them, it was their special treat, although a lack of parental vision meant that the special treat turned into a weekly dose of pancakes and maple syrup.

"I know but I always mess them up. Lucas made them for me last time. I was terrible, honestly Peyton you should have seen it" Brooke giggled causing Lucas to chuckle. He remembered that day like it was yesterday. Although he had to admit, he had never seen anyway make such a mess as she did whilst making pancakes. And there he was thinking it would be simple. He clearly hadn't taken into consideration who he was dealing with and Brooke's history in regards to cooking.

"Oh"

The word escaped Peyton lips as it dawned her why Lucas 'couldn't remember'. Turned out 'couldn't remember' was code for 'with Brooke'. She knew she couldn't rewrite history but it wasn't easy for her when she was constantly reminded of the two of them.

Lucas looked over at Brooke, then back to Peyton, unsure of what he was meant to say. Lucky for him he didn't have to say anything.

"Those look so yummy. Can I have some?" Brooke asked ignoring the now obvious tension. It wasn't really a question though as she grabbed a plate and began helping herself before Lucas even had time to answer.

"Sure" Lucas replied. Secretly grateful for the brunette's interruption. Peyton's eyes remained firmly on her boyfriend. That was until she heard what Brooke had to say next.

"So I was thinking that maybe I should move back to Rachel's" Brooke announced as she stabbed her fork into her stack. A stunned Peyton turned to stare at the hungry brunette, Lucas followed Peyton's lead as Brooke's words sunk in.

"But the house is empty and won't Rachel's parents mind?" Peyton questioned, hoping the brunette would be forced to stay where she was.

"Rachel said I could crash there while I find somewhere else." She replied continuing to make her way through the stack unaware of the worried glances Peyton and Lucas were sending each other.

"Oh right." Peyton swallowed hard. She couldn't make Brooke stay if she didn't want to, but at the same time she really needed her. The two had been inseparable since arriving at Lucas' home. The idea of the brunette being somewhere away from her scared her. After all one of the main reasons for her doing so well was Brooke. If she didn't have her by her side then who knew what would happen.

"Hey. It's not like I am going far though right." Brooke reassured the blonde having picked up on the disappointment in Peyton's voice. She had thought Peyton would be happy she was leaving, enabling her to have a little alone time with Lucas. And anyway it wasn't like they could leave in each other's pockets forever. She was pretty sure Lucas would be sick of the sight of them soon enough, well at least her anyway.

"Can't you stay, just for a little longer?" Peyton pleaded pulling the plate away from the brunette. She knew it looked pathetic, desperate even, but she didn't care. She needed her.

Peyton worriedly looked on. Lucas too, as he wondered what the brunette would decide to do.

Seconds went by before Brooke answered.

"Ok." Brooke gulped. Peyton slid the plate back the brunette, a happy smile now in place. "On one condition though" Brooke quickly added.

"Name it" Peyton said without hesitation.

"It has to be ok with Lucas" Brooke spoke and turned her attention to the boy, as did Peyton.

Talk about pressure.

Brooke wanted to go, Peyton wanted her to stay. Brooke would stay, but only if he said she could. He looked over at Brooke and then turned to face his girlfriend. Her pleading eyes all he needed to see.

"I guess Brooke will be staying a little longer then" Lucas smiled. He certainly had not expected Brooke to turn it on him like that, she had completely pulled the rug out from under him. He wasn't sure if she was expecting him to say no and that was why she asked him or if she genuinely cared about how he felt. Maybe he would never know, but that didn't stop his mind from wondering.

"Thank you" Peyton mouthed. He knew in that moment he had made the right decision. At least where Peyton was concerned. With Brooke. Maybe not.

"I need to go to Rachel's and collect a few things" Brooke commented.

"I could take you if you wanted. How about tonight?" He offered, hoping to spend a little time with the brunette even if it was the duration of a short car ride. He wanted to know how she was doing, what was going on in that pretty little head of hers, and he knew his expectations were high in hoping Brooke would open up to him, but he was pretty certain that he stood a better chance alone with Brooke than he did if Peyton was present.

"Hey what about me?" Peyton asked making her presence known. He couldn't seriously be thinking of leaving her on her own could he?

"Right well what if-"He began

"What if I just go on my own" Brooke jumped in.

She needed to get out. She needed to get away. From Peyton. From Lucas. From everyone. She couldn't think straight, not here, not with them around her.

"Are you sure you don't want someone with you Brooke?" He asked. He wanted to make sure the brunette didn't mind going on her own. He minds though. He doesn't want her to go alone. He wants to go with her, check she is ok, although he knows she is far from it. But he can't. He has a girlfriend and she needs him.

He feels torn between the two. He wants to go with Brooke but his head is telling him he simply can't. Peyton is scared, she doesn't want to be alone and she clearly wants him to stay with her. He has no choice. He is her boyfriend after all.

"I'll be fine really." His cell beeping as Brooke reassured the couple.

"I have to head to the café" Lucas revealed. His eyes scanned the message once more to be sure.

"Will you be long?" Peyton asked worriedly. It wasn't that she needed Lucas by her side twenty-four seven, and being with Brooke was great, but having Lucas also there just gave her that increased security. And right now feeling safe was her number one priority.

"Skills sent me a message. Some sort of emergency involving Mouth. He asked us all to come so I was going to head down there now. Will you two be ok to make your own way?" He asked, just wanting to be sure.

"Yeah we'll be along in a few " Peyton answered for the two of them as she glanced down at the near empty plate sitting in front of Brooke but then realised Brooke still needed to get dressed. She contemplated asking him to wait but she knew she needed to be brave. It wasn't far to the Cafe, she had Brooke and she had to start getting back to normal sometime.

"Well if you need anything-" He began but was cut off.

"We'll call" The girls replied in unison and smiled at the protective boy. He was only looking out for them, that they knew, but they couldn't help but chuckle at the boy's words.

"Right" He laughed back before slamming the door closed. Brooke rising from her seat and locking the door within seconds of him doing so.

"Brooke you do want to stay don't you?" Peyton asked as the brunette retook her seat at the table. She didn't want to push Brooke into staying but now she was beginning to wonder if that was exactly what she had just done. Did she want Brooke to stay because she believed it was too soon for Brooke to be on her own, or was it more that it was too soon for her to be without Brooke?

Unfortunately she thought she already knew the answer to that.

"Of course I do." The brunette insisted. "I just don't want to get in the way".

"You will never be in the way Brooke Penelope Davis" Peyton smiled as she squeezed the brunettes hand.

But Brooke knew differently. And as much as she wanted to believe Peyton she simply _couldn't_.

Words were no longer enough.

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** I hope you enjoyed it and will review so I know what you thought. Thanks again for the lovely reviews.**


	3. What Lies Behind The Smile

**Sorry for taking so long, I did plan on updating before the end of 2007 but as you can see, that didn't happen lol. And I just want to say a massive thank you for the lovely reviews. **

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"So what's it like then?" Skills asked as Lucas pulled himself up onto a stool next to him.

"What's what like?" Lucas questioned, clearly baffled.

"Come on Dawg, you have the blonde and the brunette in your bed, you must be in heaven right?"

Skills smirked and Lucas knew just from looking at him what his childhood pal was thinking about in his head. "It's not like that Skills." Lucas stated firmly. He would have laughed had the situation been different but there wasn't anything remotely humorous about the situation. He had been sharing a bed with two girls who whether they admitted to it or not were scared out of their minds. Nothing funny about that.

"Whatever you say man. Just saying how it looks that's all."

"Yeah well it's nothing like how it looks. They've been through a lot." Lucas responded, beginning to get rather defensive. Skills didn't know what it had been like since the attack, none of them did. Sure he had spoken to Haley and Nathan a couple of times on the phone and they had dropped by to see them, but they didn't know what it was like in the middle of the night, to have the girls wake him and get him to check out a sound they might or might not have heard. They weren't the ones having to stay up all night long because the girls were too scared to sleep, nor where they the ones to see Brooke sitting on the kitchen floor crying her eyes out last night. He had been there. He had been the one to comfort them. None of them could understand what it had been like. They just couldn't.

"How are they doing?" Nathan asked having heard the tail end of the conversation as he made his way over from his wife, who was ordering something to eat. He knew it was common for women to get cravings during a pregnancy but he had no idea it would be like this. She had been craving ice-cream, so trying to do the right thing he had stocked up on ice-cream, he had even got a selection of flavours just in case. However the next day it wasn't ice-cream that she wanted, no, this time it was pickles. He didn't understand cravings and he was pretty sure he was never going to either.

"They're getting there. Peyton seems to be dealing with it now." Lucas answered his brother.

"And Brooke?" Nathan instantly asked picking up on his brother's failure to mention the brunette.

Lucas hesitated as he thought about the answer to that very question, which only gave Nathan further reason to worry. "I'm not sure. I mean she says she's fine, but I don't think she is." Lucas confessed. He couldn't lie to Nathan, he knew his brother would see straight through it and truth be told Nathan and Haley had probably been there for Brooke a lot more than he had leading up to the attack. It had only been in the last week that he had actually had a proper conversation with the brunette.

"Brooke's a tough cookie. She'll be alright." Skills stated, clearly not seeing any reason to worry. Then again he didn't know Brooke like either of the brothers did.

"Yeah well right now I think she's crumbling" Lucas muttered under his breath. He thought his comment had gone unnoticed, and it had by Skills, but when he looked up and caught his brother's eye he realised his words had not gone unheard after all.

The bell rang signalling someone had either entered or left the café.

"Hey" Haley's cheerful voice sounded as she waved over the two girls who had just appeared through the door. Brooke and Peyton both made their way over and took a seat, either side of their pregnant friend.

"So what's this emergency? Brooke asked as she watched Haley dig in to the pie in front of her.

Haley shrugged and waited until she was able to swallow the contents on her mouth. "They wouldn't say 'til everyone was here." Haley explained. "But now you're here that's everyone" Haley added as her husband, best-friend and Skills all made their way over to the girl's table.

"What's this all about man?" Nathan asked.

"See I got this weird message from Mouth." Skills said pulling out his cell from his jean pocket. He searched for the message, which didn't take long and then passed the cell phone to Lucas.

"In Honey Grove. Need ass" Lucas said reading the message out. A look of confusion soon followed and when he looked up he was greeted by similar expressions.

"What's that meant to mean?" Peyton asked

"How much ass does he need, he's with Rachel!" Brooke chimed in. The redhead had sent her a message saying Mouth had gone with her, she hadn't been surprised like everyone else. She was confused as to how Mouth had got to the airport in time when just an hour or two earlier he had been at prom with her but was she surprised Mouth and Rachel had ended up together? Definitely not.

"What's he doing in Honey Grove? Nathan asked clearly baffled.

"Where is Honey Grove?" Haley asked.

"I'm on it" Brooke replied cell in hand as she entered the destination

"Guys what if ass is short for assistance. Maybe he needs us" Lucas suggested as he read over the message again.

"Then why didn't the dude just say need help?" Skills queried.

"Because this is Mouth" Peyton stated

"I found it but if he does need help it's going to be one hell of a long drive." Brooke said as she passed her cell across the table to Lucas so he could see the distance for himself.

_1189 miles_

"Brooke's right. It's a long drive, _too long_. I think Skills and I should go and the rest of you should stay" Lucas reasoned. It would be a lot easier if just the two of them went. Haley was pregnant, Nathan wouldn't want to leave Haley alone, and Brooke and Peyton had hardly been out in the last week so it was highly unlikely that would want to go to Honey Grove of all places.

"Come on it will be fun." Haley said excitedly.

"Hales maybe we should just let them go, you are pregnant" Nathan suggested, his protective nature kicking in.

"So what? It's just a couple of hours in a car, we find Mouth and then come home right?" Haley asked refusing to be deterred by her husband and brother in law.

"It's more than a couple of hours tutor-mom." Brooke warned. Obviously she didn't know exactly, her math wasn't that good but even she knew it was more than a couple of hours given the distance that had just been displayed on her cell.

"Try 18" Lucas swiftly answered his best friend.

"I think Haley's right. We should go. Mouth needs us and after the week we've had I think we could all do with this" Peyton added her two cents.

"A long road trip?" Skills questioned. There were a lot of things he needed and wanted but he couldn't say a long road trip was one of them.

"No. Some time all together and a chance to get away from all the drama. What do you say?" Peyton asked looking around the table at the faces that surrounded her.

"I'm in." Brooke quickly answered, giving a smile to Peyton as she did so. Peyton offered a smile back thankful or her friend's support.

"Me too" Haley soon added causing Nathan to groan at his wife's stubbornness.

"I guess that means I'm coming too" Nathan sighed.

"Guess we know who wears the pants in that relationship" Skills quipped causing them all to laugh.

"We do have one problem." Lucas said over the laughter, grabbing everyone's attention as he did so.

"What now?" Skills asked.

"Well there's six of us and only room for five in the car." Lucas pointed out. It was great that they all wanted to come and he would be grateful of the company but it seemed everyone had overlooked the obvious math problem.

"No there isn't" Brooke spoke up causing everyone to turn and face her.

"Huh" Lucas spoke. He didn't want to point out that math wasn't her strongest subject but it seemed either she was unable to count or she knew something he didn't and he was hoping it was the latter.

"Not if we take Rachel's car." Brooke smirked rather proud of herself for the thinking of the car sitting on the redhead's drive. She still had her set of keys to the house where Rachel had left the car keys, and the redhead had told her that her parents would not be back for a few weeks which meant the car was there, available and all gassed up ready for a road trip!

They went on to discuss the arrangements, what time they would leave, how much luggage should they take, which the girls and guys clearly disagreed on, the girls winning in the end. It was settled that Nathan would take the first shift and that Haley would be excluded from the driving schedule. During the discussion Nathan paid close attention to the brunette. Hair and make-up immaculate as usual, chatty, making jokes at his expense, she seemed fine, and yet he remained unconvinced.

He knew Brooke after all. And he didn't want to cast doubt over Peyton's friendship with Brooke but there were things he understood about Brooke, things that no one else did, not even Peyton.

He remembered when they were younger and Brooke had ended up in his bedroom crying about her parents one morning before school, she had completely fallen apart right in front of his very eyes. It turned out Brooke's parents had decided they were taking a family vacation, without her. The brunette had disappeared into the bathroom and yet when she had reappeared, just in time to leave for school, he was unable to tell if it was the same girl or not. She walked down the halls at school and no one knew how upset she had been, no one knew how upset she still was, because what she didn't want to show people, she hid. She had perfected it to such a degree that even he had trouble seeing through the mask she wore.

"I'm going to go and get the car then. Meet at Lucas's at four yeah?" Brooke asked as she slid out of her chair.

"Maybe someone should go with you" Lucas added before the brunette could escape through the door. He hoped someone would jump in and offer to go with her but as the majority of them believed Brooke was fine no one did. Maybe had the brunette shown them a little of what he had seen over the last few days they would have felt the need to accompany her. However that was not the case.

"Bye" Brooke shouted as she quickly exited the building. She let out a deep sigh as the cool air hit her face. For a second she had actually thought Lucas was going to insist on coming with her. It wasn't that she didn't want company but she was going to have to learn to be on her own once again sooner or later. When things got back to normal Nathan would have Haley, Peyton would have Lucas and she would be back on her own. She couldn't afford to be scared. And spending time with Lucas wasn't going to do her any good. It would just make it that extra bit harder and right now it was hard enough.

She steadied her pace as she walked further down the street and further away from the Café. And that was when she had noticed it. As her own pace evened out it became more apparent that there was another sound of footsteps close behind and getting increasingly closer. She felt the fear in her begin to rise and her pace quickened once more. She didn't want to turn around through fear of who it was. The stupid thing was that it could have been a complete stranger, someone completely harmless just doing their shopping or something ridiculously normal, but it was the fear that it could be_him, _the one who had held the knife to her throat and planned on killing her a matter of days ago, that prevented her from looking.

She could feel it, the person was now directly behind her, she wished she had crossed the street earlier or walked that extra bit faster, but it was too late now. Her instincts were telling her to kick them, punch them, anything, just to do something. But she didn't. She kept walking. She felt a hand grasp her shoulder but she was still too scared to do anything. She thought about screaming and opened her mouth to do so, but before a sound had a chance to escape her mouth the figure behind her spoke.

"Brooke"

"Don't you ever do that to me again" Brooke exclaimed as she spun around and smacked the owner of the familiar voice on the arm.

He couldn't help but laugh at her over the top reaction. But as his laughter came to a halt he realised that the brunette before him wasn't smiling, she was actually shaking and seemingly on the verge of tears.

"Brooke I'm so sorry. I didn't think" Nathan said as he wrapped his arms around the clearly shaken brunette.

"It's ok. Really. I'm fine." The brunette declared as she attempted to regain some composure.

'You're not fine though are you. Lucas was right" Nathan replied causing the brunette to break out of his hold.

"Is that why you are here? Lucas sent you?" Brooke yelled in disbelief. For a brief second she had actually believed that maybe he was there because he simply wanted to spend time with her, like they used to, but now she knew he was only there out of pity or on a order from his older brother. She didn't need this. She was doing fine, why couldn't Lucas just stay the hell out of her business. She was dealing with it in her own way. She didn't need people checking up on her all the time. She wasn't Peyton!

"No I was just worried about you. And I thought you could do with some company" Nathan reasoned but he knew he had blown it. He hadn't meant to mention Lucas, it had just slipped out and now it didn't matter what he had to say as Brooke didn't want to hear it.

"Well now you know that I'm fine you can go back and tell your dear brother." She retorted.

Nathan turned to walk away but something was stopping him.

_He couldn't leave her. _

He knew she had told him to leave and he knew he should do as she said rather than make anymore of a scene than they had done already. But he couldn't go. Having seen her a minute or two earlier on the verge of tears he knew she wasn't ok, Lucas knew she wasn't either, and he couldn't walk away knowing that. She clearly needed help. Maybe Lucas couldn't help her, but maybe he could.

"I was kinda hoping you would let me come with you. Their all talking about the baby and I'm kind of freaking out. It's getting closer and closer you know" Nathan said as he slowly turned back round to the brunette.

"No offence Nathan but didn't you realise this when you found out Haley was pregnant. I mean a baby is going to have to come out of there sometime, that is generally what happens." A stranger may not have noticed the change in the girl's tone or facial expression but he had. She had softened. Maybe it was the talk about the baby or maybe it was because admitting his own fears made hers disappear if only for a while.

"I know it's just…….. I don't know what I am supposed to do when it's here." He struggled to explain. It had been bothering him for a while now and he had hoped that as it got closer his fears would go away, but it seemed they were getting worse and worse by the day. He needed someone to talk to about it and he knew that someone should be his wife but there seemed to be this barrier that was preventing him from doing so.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I don't know anything about kids." Nathan answered. It sounded silly as he said it out loud, it wasn't like there were an alien species or anything but right now it sure felt like it.

"Neither do I" Brooke quickly replied

"Yeah but you're not about to be a mom."

"No" Brooke swallowed at the painful reminder. Nathan hadn't noticed and she was glad. She had thought she was pregnant, pregnant with Lucas's baby, she had gone out and bought the pregnancy kit making sure Lucas did not find out anything until she was sure, but in the end there hadn't been anything to tell. Part of her wished that she had been pregnant, maybe then she would still have Lucas, although remembering his reaction when he thought it was her and not Haley, and seeing him with Peyton and how happy they were she realised it had all worked out for the best. Everyone was happy.

_Except for her anyway._

"I'm fine with going out to the store buying her ice-cream, that's easy. But I don't even know where I am meant to start when the baby comes. Everyone keeps telling me all these things and I can't remember like any of them"

"Nathan you will do great. You both will. Most first time parents don't know what they are supposed to do, it's normal." Brooke reassured him.

"So do you mind if I tag along?" Nathan asked for the final time knowing that if she didn't say yes now then she was never going to.

"Sure but just so you know, if you ever scare me like that again I will kill you Nathan Scott."

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**I hope you liked it. I am at home sick at the moment so will probably get some more writing done in the next few days, still not sure as to when the next update will be but you shouldn't have to wait too long. And as usual please review as I love reading them.**


	4. Life's Unfair

**A little later than planned but I finally got there in the end. **

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The banging and crashing is becoming increasingly louder as he nears the top of the stairs. He doesn't worry or panic, for he already knows the cause of the loud noises. He leans against the door frame as he watches the brunette frantically throwing items of clothing into her bag, slamming draws and closet doors along the way.

"You nearly ready Davis?" Nathan asks. The mere sound of his voice causes her to jump a little. He watches as she turns and scowls. He hadn't meant to startle her, just like he hadn't meant to scare her earlier. He just hadn't thought, especially what with her being in the safety on her own home or whatever she wanted to call it.

"Does it look like I'm ready? It won't all fit." She huffs. "That's the last time I ever let a guy decide how many bags I can take."

She has packed and unpacked three times now and no matter how many times she does it, it just wouldn't all fit. Each time she has tried a different approach, the first time packing jeans first then followed by other items of clothing, the problem being that when it comes to her shoes there is simply no room left.

"Brooke no offence but if you had your way then there wouldn't be enough room for everyone. It's going to be a squeeze as it is." Nathan reminded her as he surveyed the room, his eyes falling on the numerous items, which currently remained unpacked. They had decided that each person could take a maximum of two bags, despite Brooke's protesting. But as she had been outnumbered there was nothing she could do.

She lets out a deep sigh as she looks at the bed before her, items scattered across the plain lilac bed cover. She knows there is no way she can squeeze all the items into her two bags, which she had had to sit on just to get the zip to go across.

"I guess I'll have to unpack everything and start again then" She sighs, making her way over to the packed bags.

Nathan edges out of the doorway and further into the chaotic scene. "You're kidding right? Brooke we don't have enough time." He warns. Haley is waiting for them to pick her up and they are already running late, which he hates. He doesn't want to give her or the other waiting. The sooner they get going, the sooner they can get there find Mouth and be on their way back. He knows he is over protective of his pregnant wife but he just hates the thought of something happening to her, like it did before.

"It's your fault that I'm only allowed two bags so either you let me take another bag or I'm going to have to unpack everything" She states, knowing all to well that Nathan is not about to let her unpack the other two bags.

"First off it wasn't me who said you could only take two bags, that was Lucas, and second of all very clever Davis" He smiles. He knows how she works, she is the master of getting her own way, she didn't work her way up to become one of the most popular girls in school on being a pushover that was for sure. She wanted to be captain of the cheerleading squad, she did it. She wanted to be student body president, she did it. So Brooke wanting to take an extra bag seemed pretty small in comparison.

"So I can have another bag?" She asks peering up at him as she speaks.

"You can have another bag." He concedes. She squeals, jumps off the bed and flings her arms around his neck.

"If the others ask just say it's mine" He adds. A warm smile appears on her face. It's there not because he has given in, nor is it because she can now take everything she needs. It's there because in that moment she realises that she can always count on him, no matter how messed up things get or how hectic life is, some things just never change.

"So I'm guessing I shouldn't use this bag" Brooke laughs as she holds up the fluorescent pink bag for Nathan to see.

"Yeah I think they might work out that it isn't mine. Don't you have something more I don't know manly?" He asks although he doesn't hold out much hope, this is Brooke Davis he is asking after all.

"I have this" She smiles awkwardly as she holds up another bag, this time a pale blue colour and flings it across to him.

"I guess I could pass that off as mine" Nathan replies as he inspects the bag "Although I think the Justin Timberlake tag is going to have to go."

"Oops yeah sorry I forgot about that" She smiles as she takes the bag back from him and rips the tag off. She doesn't want to tell him but she is really glad he has come with her to get the car. The house seems so empty, it just doesn't feel right anymore now that Rachel's gone. And she isn't going to lie to herself, she knows the fear that has consumed her since the attack is yet to go away, she know she still jumps at the slightest of sounds or a door slamming. But having him there makes some of that fear disappear, if only for a while. She just wishes the redhead was there also, as she knows she would feel so much less alone with the redhead by her side.

Nathan has always had a way of making her feel safe, ever since they were little. Nathan had always been adventurous, wandering off here and there, not caring about what could happen to him. They had ended up in the woods one time after he had insisted he knew a shortcut home, of course once inside the woods Nathan had lost his bearings and sure enough they were lost. At first it hadn't been too bad, but as the sun set and the dark clouds rolled in she had begun to panic. Nathan simply took her hand in his and promised to get them home, and although they were just words she had instantly felt better, knowing that she wasn't alone, that she had him by her side. And he kept his promise.

"So you think you can be ready to go in five?" He asks, glancing at his watch for the first time since he has entered the bedroom but for the sixth time since he had entered the house.

She looks from the bed back up to the younger Scott. "Sure let me just throw this lot in. You know you could help by carrying my bags down, they're way too heavy for me" She remarks fluttering her eyelashes a little as she does so.

"I'm not even going to comment." He mutters to himself, bending down to pick up the two bags she had placed on the floor.

"God Brooke what do you have in them? Bricks?" He quips as he struggles with the bags. He knew she had said they were heavy but heavy for her and heavy for him were usually two very different things.

"Just the essentials" She shrugs, continuing to place the items from her bed into the blue bag.

"I hope Haley's idea of packing the essentials is different from yours Davis" Nathan comments as he makes his way out of the bedroom and down the hall.

She can hear his footsteps and the creaks of the floorboards as he works his way down the stairs with her bags. She sighs and turns to face the empty bed nearest the window, the bed which once contained the redhead.

A few months ago she would have laughed at the thought of missing Rachel, but now that she was gone she really did miss her. She missed the snide remarks, the blunt responses, she missed hearing about who the redhead had hooked up with the previous night, and most of all she missed having that someone she could turn to for advice. Rachel had become such a good friend over the last few months, people could say what they liked about her, she didn't care. Rachel had been there for her more than anyone recently, she was the one to console her when Nick had cheated on her, Rachel was the one who tried to pick up the pieces after the break-up with Lucas, and Rachel was the one who had put her own neck on the line to save the brunette's future. Sounded like a pretty good friend to her.

She shakes her head and smiles as the voice of the redhead telling her to get a grip and stop being so sentimental pops into her head. She flings what is left on her bed into the open bag as quickly as she can before running down the stairs to the waiting car with Nathan already at the wheel.

"You got everything?" He asks as she slams the car door shut having placed the bag in the back with others.

She nods and gazes ahead.

"Well I'm not letting you go back in even if there is something you've left. If I step on the gas we should still make it on time"

He pushes his foot down on the accelerator and pulls out of the driveway. He knows his wife will be wondering where he is and he doesn't want her to worry.

She glances back at the house wanting to get one last look at it before they go. She knows she still has to go back and move all of her things out before Rachel's parents return but she can't help but feel sad knowing that she and the redhead were no longer going to be roommates.

He can tell the brunette's mood has changed since he last saw her. She seems deep in thought, worried even and he doesn't like to think she is keeping things bottled up.

"You ok?" He asks hoping for some sort of reassurance that she is, but also hoping she feels able to tell him the truth if things aren't ok.

"Yeah." She answers, her voice is soft. She doesn't really want to talk about the redhead to him, or anyone for that matter. She knows neither Haley nor Nathan were fans of Rachel to say the least, so neither of them could even remotely understand her feelings on the redhead's departure. Only one other person would really miss Rachel like she was going to and that one person just so happened to have left with her, so not only was she going to miss the redhead but now she had to do it alone.

---

They have been on the road for 45 minutes. She glances back at the others to see what everyone is doing, Lucas and Peyton sit side by side just behind her seat, Skills and Haley sitting further back. As she looks back she can't help but be grateful to the brunette who was currently driving. For if it wasn't for him she would bee sitting next to Skills in Haley's place. Thankfully it was her turn to drive next and Nathan had suggested that she should ride up front with him and be the navigator until it was her turn to take over.

"Taking a trip down memory lane" Haley comments as Lucas flips through one of the many year books he had brought along.

"Something like that" He mumbles. He's not ready to tell anyone the truth about why he has brought them along for the ride. He doesn't think they will understand. He hasn't had a chance to give it much thought the last few days what with both girls staying at his house but now he thinks is the perfect opportunity.

"What was I thinking" Haley mutters to herself having taken one of the yearbooks from his pile and located herself.

"Bad picture?" Peyton asks, turning her attention away from Lucas.

"You know when you think something looks really good at the time and then you look back and realise hoe terrible it is?

"Yeah"

"Well that sums up most of my yearbook pictures" Haley laughs half-heartedly. She has never been one to care about her yearbook picture. She would just dress as she usually did, apply minimal if any make-up, brush her hair through and that was it, nothing special. But now looking at the pictures of everyone else she was beginning to wish she had made more of an effort. She looks at the picture of Peyton, the blonde curly locks flowing down just below her shoulders, she looked beautiful but in a less obvious way than Brooke., She flicks through the pages to relocate the brunette, everything about her was just perfect, from her brunette waves to the immaculately applied make-up. She was gorgeous in every sense of the word, every guy wanted her and the majority of the girls wanted to be her. She then turns her attention back to her own picture and frowns.

"Well if it makes you feel any better I think we've all had our fair share of bad pictures" Peyton chimes, in an obvious attempt to cheer up the pregnant blonde behind her.

Brooke coughs making Peyton aware of her error.

"Ok well except for Brooke." Peyton corrects herself almost immediately.

"Thank you" Brooke replies a satisfied smile emerging.

"You don't have one bad picture?" Haley replies in disbelief. Sure Brooke looked great in the yearbook picture she had seen but was it really possible to go through her entire school life without having one bad picture?

"Nope" She answers proudly. It's not that she thinks it's a big deal, at least se doesn't anymore, but right now she needs something to make her feel better about herself. Something to make her feel good again.

"How do you do it?" Haley asks.

"Come on, Brooke starts preparing for it weeks in advance, her hair, clothes, make-up, everything" Peyton answers for the brunette, having seen firsthand Brooke's preparation.

"Why?" Haley questions not understanding why anyone would put in so much effort for a yearbook picture.

"Because she wants everyone to remember how hot she is." Peyton laughs as she recounts Brooke's exact words from years gone by.

"So I guess that means everyone will remember how terrible I look then" Haley comments seemingly determined to put herself down.

"Haley you look gorgeous and who cares what anyone else thinks, you have a husband that adores you, a baby on the way, your life is perfect. It's just a picture, it's not like it means anything." Brooke remarks. She would do anything to have a guy who loves her as much as Nathan does Haley. She just wishes Haley could realise how lucky she is.

"Yeah that's easy for you to say 'Miss I look hot in all my pictures'" Haley counters.

"Well I've changed my mind. It doesn't matter, none of it does. Who cares what some geek thinks of you when he looks back at some crappy old picture" Brooke replies, letting out a frustrated sigh as she finishes. She can't help but feel somewhat to blame for Haley's new outlook, telling the blonde how she needed to change her hair and how she had no fashion sense can't have helped and now she regrets these comments. She shifts uneasily in her seat wishing for this conversation to be over and for Haley to go back to how she once was, not caring about what anyone thought about her.

"I guess you're right." The pregnant blonde admits knowing she is just being stupid. She wishes it didn't bother her, that she could just be happy and not worry about superficial things like the style of her hair or colour of her eye shadow but deep down she is insecure like everyone else. And having a husband who is so popular just adds to her worries, the fear that he could find someone else, someone more attractive.

"Yeah I am. You have any music P.Sawyer? Brooke asks. It was going to be along journey and she has already had to witness Peyton whispering various things in her boyfriend's ear. It was hard to think that a few months ago that would have been her in Peyton's position. Snuggling up to Lucas, feeling the warmth of his body, resting her head on his chest and listening to his heart beat. But that was then, and now she was no longer the one sitting beside him, her place had been filled with her once and maybe again best friend. Lucas had moved on, now she needed to do the same. If only it was that easy though.

"Of course" The blonde replies digging her hand deep into her bag.

"This better not be depressing" She warns as she takes the CD from the blonde's hand. The last thing she wants is an hour of listening to Peyton's dark depressing 'I want to kill myself' music. She wants, no, she needs, something happy, something uplifting. Something which makes her forget all the crap that is going on.

"Ha-ha" Peyton mocks.

"Ha-ha yes it is, or ha-ha you're so wrong?" The brunette ask turning to look over her shoulder at Peyton.

"I guess you will have to put it on and find out" Peyton answers refusing to give the brunette any hints as to what is on the disk.

She inserts the disk still not sure if she really wants to hear the contents of the disk. The music begins and she instantly recognises it, it's impossible for her not to. She doesn't realise her facial expression has changed until her former best friend speaks.

"What's wrong? I thought you liked this one" Peyton asks clearly confused as to why the brunette is now frowning.

"I did, I mean I do... I guess I've just gone off it" She attempts to explain not wanting to draw any more attention to herself than she has already done.

"You can skip it if you want. There must be something else you like on there somewhere" The curly haired girl suggests.

Brooke nods and goes to hit the skip button. She knows Peyton means well, it's not like she had done it on purpose, but just hearing the song again has brought all these memories flooding back, memories which she had tried oh so hard to keep away.

"Leave it" Lucas's stern voice sounds just as Brooke is about to press the button. She slowly moves her hand away and places it back in her lap. She doesn't say anything, she is too scared to.

Peyton's attention is once again firmly back on Lucas.

"I haven't heard this song in ages" He states hoping to stop his girlfriend from looking at him the way she currently is. And it works. She smiles lightly completely oblivious of the real meaning of the song to him. And more importantly to Brooke.

She sits there wishing for the song to end, she can't bare it, she can't even pretend to. She doesn't want to remember all the good times, it just makes her more aware of how much she has lost and what she no longer has. Inside she is breaking, she knows she misses him but there is nothing she can do. She was the one who decided to end it and now he has someone else, he is happy and that's all she could ever want for him. All she can do now is wish that one day she can be happy again.

She digs her fingernails into her skin hoping the pain will draw her attention away from the music. It doesn't work and now she is left with horrible red marks in her arms as a reminder of that. She doesn't understand why Lucas made her leave it on, she wonders if he is trying to torture her and is enjoying seeing her suffer like this.

The tears are threatening but she knows she can't cry. She can't let Lucas know he has got to her and more importantly she can't let Peyton know anything is wrong.

She had managed to last all this time sleeping in the same bed as him and yet one single song has been able to destroy her inside and make her feel like she is having her heart ripped out all over again. Life is so unfair. And the worst past is that it didn't seem like that was going to change anytime soon

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**I hope you liked it. Hopefully I will be able to update quicker but it all depends on my work load. Please review if you can as it means a lot to hear what you guys think. **


	5. Chill In The Air

**Please don't hate me. I know this is way overdue and I am so sorry. I have just had so much stuff going on. Enough with the excuses though and on with the chapter. I will try and update as soon as possible.**

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She glances to her right where Skills still remains in a deep sleep. It's been six hours since she has taken over from Nathan, he is now in the back with Haley, both fast asleep and probably dreaming of their wonderful future together. Her shift was over two hours ago but she has kept driving, partly because she doesn't see the point in waking someone when she is able to continue and partly because she's scared to sleep in the car like the others. She doesn't want to have yet another nightmare, but more importantly she doesn't want the others to know she is still having them.

She hates the dark, now more than ever. The road ahead is empty, and she's lost count of how long ago it was since she last saw a car. She's starting to worry that she's taken a wrong turn and contemplates pulling over or waking one of the others but then she decides against it. She doesn't need to hear how she has screwed up yet again, especially from them.

Her fingers tap lightly on the steering wheel as she tries to keep herself going. The tiredness is starting to creep in and she's not sure how much longer she can go on before she has to wake Skills to take over. Her eyes travel to the clock.

2:04 am

But seeing the time only makes it worse and she has to try and prevent the yawn from escaping.

"What are you doing?" His sleepy somewhat croaky voice asks. Of all the people it could have been she wishes it wasn't him.

"Driving." She answers, stating the obvious.

"What time is it?" He asks. She opens her mouth to answer but she doesn't have the energy to lie. So instead she shrugs hoping that will be the end of it. But she should know better than that.

It takes just 7 seconds for him to ask the question she had been hoping to avoid.

"Brooke's it's 2am, shouldn't Skills be driving?"

"He's sleeping." She quickly replies as she continues to stare at the road ahead.

"And what about you? Aren't you tired yet?" She can already hear the concern in his voice. It doesn't even make sense why he cares. He should be curled up with his girlfriend at this hour, not sitting wide awake questioning and watching her every move.

"I'm fine." It isn't even worth answering and yet she still does, maybe just in the hope that he would then leave her alone and go back to sleep like any normal person would.

"I wish you would stop saying that." He mutters, clearly frustrated with the brunette's insistence that she is fine. He wishes she would say something, anything that didn't include those words. He wants to believe them, more than she can imagine, but he can't. And he knows that she doesn't even believe her own words.

"Look why don't you pull over and I'll take over." He suggests. It wasn't like he was telling her she wasn't in a fit state to drive, he simply didn't think it was a good idea for her to overrun on her shift. At least that's what he is telling himself. Maybe he would be feeling differently if it was Nathan or Skills in the drivers seat but after what Brooke had been through recently and knowing she still wasn't herself he couldn't help but want to be on the safe side.

"It's not you turn." The stubborn reply came from the brunette. She would decide when she stopped, not Nathan, not Haley, not Peyton, not Skills, and certainly not Lucas Scott.

"Yeah well it's not yours either." He counters, and waits for her to make her next argument.

But she doesn't.

"It's late and you've been driving a long time. Just please let me take over." He pleads one last time, he can see her rub her eyes as if to try and stay awake. He doesn't know why she is being so stubborn, perhaps she just wants a fight, but he just wishes she would listen to him for once in her life as this wasn't just about them, she was in the driving seat and responsible for everyone in that car.

There's a long silence but he can feel the car begin to slow. He wonders what made the brunette listen to him or if it was just a case of common sense prevailing, but right now he is just glad she has done what is right.

"Thank you." The car pulls to a stop on the side of the road and he actually lets out a sigh of relief.

"I didn't pull over for you."

"Well thank you anyway." He says again but she is already up and out of the car and standing on the gravel at the side of the road.

"Aren't you going to get back in?" She can hear him ask as he joins her, his footsteps sounding as his feet hit the gravel.

"It's not like we're going anywhere fast. Whatever that light means on the dashboard I think it might have to do with why the car stopped." She informs him as she leans against the side of the car. It's cold and she's already feeling the chill in the air making her wish that all her jackets weren't packed in her suitcase, which just so happen to be buried under everyone else's luggage.

"How long has it been on?" He asks worriedly. And it's now becoming clear that the brunette had not stopped out of choice or because of his pleas but simply because of a mechanical failure. It saddens him to realise this, as he had thought after the past few days that they were beginning to get closer, not in a romantic sense but as friends, and now it seems that everything is back to how it was when they broke up. Cold, distant and awkward. Maybe they can never be as close as they were but he at least wants to resurrect some sort of a friendship with her. This isn't how it should be, this is not what he wanted.

"I don't know. It just appeared and it looked pretty so I didn't think it was anything bad." She shrugs and she can instantly tell Lucas is biting his tongue and wanting to lecture her about what she should have done. She doesn't care, not anymore anyway. Anything she had with Lucas has been ruined, he may think he can walk straight back into her life and be her friend but he has another thing coming if he honestly believes that. After all, why should she make it easy for him, he never made it easy for her their entire relationship. Perhaps she was being childish but right now she just doesn't care.

"Ok well I guess I better take a look." Lucas makes his way round and opens it up hoping that maybe there was a chance he could fix it and get them back on the road. She watches as he walks back past her a few seconds later and opens his door clearly searching for something or other.

He finally reemerges now with a map in one hand and flashlight in the other "You know where we are?"

"Huh?" She's stalling as she tries to remember the last sign she went past but no matter how hard she tries to think back she keeps drawing blanks.

"Where are we? What road?" He asks again, eager to know where they were so they can call for assistance.

"I don't know." The brunette mutters.

"Well what was the last sign you saw?"

"I can't remember." It's the truth. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere was definitely not her idea of fun, especially when all she could see at that moment in time was the light of Lucas' flashlight and all she had for company was her former flame.

"That's great Brooke. So now we can't even call for help as we don't know where the hell we are." His voice is harsh and it somewhat shocks her to hear him like this. She understands he is angry but he's not exactly perfect himself and to hear him talking to her like this she finds hard to take.

It's obvious she's made a mistake but she's not sure she can take much more criticism right now. The old Brooke would have laughed it off and fired his comments right back at him but she just wasn't that Brooke anymore.

"Have you not been following the map?" He asks, shaking her from her thoughts as he does so.

"Well Skills fell asleep and I couldn't drive and read the map." She attempts to defend her actions but she knows it's to no avail. In his eyes it's clear she is completely to blame for this disaster, even if there was nothing she could have done to prevent the mechanical failure.

"Did you think maybe you should pull over?" The questions continue and she's now had enough.

"Would you please stop shouting at me, I screwed up I know. And I'm sure you will all make sure I don't forget it either." She screams no longer caring who she wakes. The road ahead is dark and empty but she is seriously tempted to just walk away from him, them, all of it, and take her chances. They are meant to be her friends but she is finding it hard to see them that way at this moment in time. When she needed them they were nowhere to be seen and even now she feels they are only there for her because of Peyton. It's not that she needs constant care or attention, she just wants to feel loved and wanted by the people she cares about the most. It's not so much to ask for, at least she doesn't think so.

"What's that meant to mean?" He asks defensively.

"It doesn't matter. I'll just wait inside the car." In her eyes it's not even worth explaining, they still won't get it. She turns on her heel and heads back to her door.

"Brooke I'm sorry I didn't mean to shout. Keep me company?" He's not sure why he even asked but to his surprise the brunette stops, then turns and walks back over so she is now standing beside him.

She's not sure why she's now standing beside him, she puts it down to tiredness and for being a sucker when it comes to Lucas Scott and his apologies, god knew she had heard a lot from him over the years.

"You think you can fix it?" She asks and tries her best to sound interested. Her eyes try to focus on what Lucas is doing rather than on her surroundings, and strangely she actually finds some comfort in that Lucas is with her, at least if they are attacked she has some protection.

"I don't know yet. Can you hold this for me?" He asks unaware of the brunette's fears regarding their current location.

"Sure." The brunette nods and quickly takes the light from his open hand. She doesn't really know what she is doing with it but she figures as long as she just points it in the direction she thinks Lucas wants then she should be alright.

--

The two of them lean against the front of the car, inches apart from one another.

He's given up and contemplating what to do next. And she's just there to keep him company as she has nothing else better to do. They can't call for help because no one has a clue where they are and he can't fix the car either. Long story short, they're stuck. And he's hoping that someone will drive by and help them but he's not holding his breath.

He looks up at the night sky, there are no stars to be seen tonight, it's just total darkness. Standing still letting the night's air hit him he notices for the first time since he had stepped out of the car how cold the air really was. He turns to the brunette beside him, she's dressed in a pair of black shorts and a green halter neck and he can't help but wonder why she hasn't complained about the rapid drop in temperature.

"Are you cold?"

"A little but it's ok." She replies not wanting to make a big deal over the fact that she has been shivering for the last 5-10 minutes.

'You can get my jacket if you want, it's next to Peyton." He adds, knowing that she is colder than she is letting on, and he's pretty sure he can see what looks to be goosebumps appearing on her arms.

She tempted to go and retrieve the jacket but before she does she just needs to know one thing.

"Why did you do it Luke?" Her voice is clear and the question immediately grabs his attention, his eyes now staring at her intensely making her wish she had never asked.

"Do what?" He's not sure what the brunette is asking but it's obviously serious as otherwise she wouldn't be looking at him the way she is now. Her expression is one of hurt and utter confusion.

Knowing there is no backing out now she answers.

"Make me play the song." Her voice cracks and she's no longer sure she is ready for this conversation. She thought she could handle it but she is clearly wrong.

He opens his mouth to speak, to at least try and give her some kind of explanation, as it's clear she needs one, but before he has a chance to speak they are interrupted.

"Man why we stopped here?" Skills asks, shaking his head as he tries to get rid of the stiffness in his neck.

"Car problems." Lucas answers. And when he turns back to where Brooke was, she is gone. And he's simply left with the words he should have said.

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**Please review as always. x x x**


	6. Never Forget

**I am trying to get the length of time between chapters down as much as I can. so I hope you don't feel you are having to wait too long. Anyway on with the chapter...**

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He shuts the hood in defeat. He expects to see Brooke now sleeping in the back with the others. But she isn't. Instead she's sitting in the driver's seat barely managing to keep her eyes open. And he can't help but notice she's now wearing his sweatshirt, the one he had told her to take from the back to keep her warm. He doesn't understand why she insists of being so stubborn all the time and why she can't just admit she is wrong on occasions. He gets that she hates admitting defeat, that's one of the things he loved about her, she hated giving up, but sometimes you had to, sometimes you had to admit you are not always right, and just give in.

"Yo Luke somethings coming." Skills shouts causing Brooke to jump a little in her seat, making her realise how close she was to drifting off to sleep. She opens her door and looks down the road in the direction the boys are, the light from the headlights somewhat blinding her.

"You think they'll stop?" Skills asks unaware that they are all asking themselves that exact question.

"Let's hope so. It's the first vehicle we've seen since we stopped." Lucas comments not wanting to get their hopes up. The fact was that most vehicles carry on driving, they'll have a look out their windows but they won't stop, they'll see some young kids probably messing about and not want to waste their time. Even if someone stops and they can't take them anywhere he's hoping they will at least have a phone so they can call for help. He knows it's only a matter of time before the others wake and he doesn't really want to be the one to explain that they are stranded in the middle of nowhere with no help on the way.

"It looks rather big." She can hear Skills say as the vehicle draws closer and closer.

"It's a freaking tour bus." Brooke mutters to herself. She doesn't care who it is inside all she wants to do is get out of the cold and into the warm and hopefully into some better company.

"Please stop." Brooke pleads. Shutting her eyes in hope that when she reopens them the bus will be standing in front of her.

And as if her prayers were answered.

"It's stopping" She can hear Lucas say and she instantly opens her eyes.

"I swear if this is Justin Timberlake I'm going to pass out." So maybe she did have a preference as to who occupied the tour bus but she really didn't care as long as it got them the hell away from where they were now. She hated the dark. Always had since she was little, only unlike most kids who were afraid of the dark she didn't have anyone to comfort her or hold her hand. She had been alone then, and she was still alone now.

They stand there eagerly anticipating the reveal of the occupant of the bus. They can hear the door begin to open and within seconds the looks of joy and excitement are quickly replaced by looks of hatred, anger and pure frustration.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" His smarmy voice asks, making Brooke want to gag. Just seeing him standing in front of her opens up so many old wounds. It may now be irrelevant but what happened back then is still in the back of her mind and to this day it hurts her to even think about it. He took advantage of her, and she let him all because she was just too damn scared to commit.

He immediately feels a wall go up as he sees the figure standing in the doorway of the bus. And for reasons that even he does not know or understand he finds himself stepping in front of Brooke. "We broke down. Can you call us some help?" He is in no mood for a chat and is straight to the point. The sooner they can get away from this jerk the better in his eyes.

"I can do better than that. Why don't you all ride with me…………. especially you Brooke." He winks at the brunette causing her to scowl, and it doesn't go unnoticed by the blonde guarding her.

"Thanks but we really just need to know where we are so we can call someone." He pushes again. He pretty much knows that there is not one single person in that car or standing with him that would want to spend any more time than needed with the guy standing in the doorway. Over the short period of time they had known him, he had caused so much destruction, how could they possibly forgive and forget all that he had done.

"Sorry can't help you my friend. My offer still stands though, take it or leave it."

Lucas can feel his anger rise just at the smarminess of the man's voice. He should have known that he wouldn't help and now wishes the bus had never stopped for them. At least then he would not have had to have seen or heard Chris Keller, and could have gone on pretending the guy no longer existed.

"We're going to Honey Grove so that's probably not even on your way." Skills comments as Lucas turns away and walks back to the car.

"Well I guess this is your lucky day then, we're passing right through there." Chris happily answers much to the annoyance of the older Scott brother. He knows he can't let the man see that he is getting to him so despite wanting to bang his head against the car and let out his frustration he lets out a deep breath and walks back to where Brooke and Skills are still standing.

"So you guys coming or what?"

"I'll get the bags." Lucas sighs. He doesn't like this in the slightest. If it was just him then he would happily stay and wait rather than having to endure spending even five minutes with the guy, but he knows it's not just him and he needs to put his personal feelings aside. They need to get help and right now as frustrating as it is, Chris Keller is their only option.

"And I'll wake the others." Skills adds quickly before Lucas has a chance to change his mind.

"And I…" Brooke begins trying to think of a reason to get away from the jerk that's eyeing her up. But as quick as she usually is with her words, this time she just isn't fast enough.

"..will come with me." he finishes for her and goes to take her arm.

"We could actually use some help with the bags." She turns relieved to hear his voice for the first time since they left Tree Hill. But just like before she doesn't have a chance to answer because he has already started to answer for her and she has to bite her tongue to not interrupt. She would love to tell him what she really thinks but right now he is their only ride out of here and as much as she hates it, they need him.

"I'm sure you two can manage. Me and Brooke will be inside getting reacquainted."

She turns to look at the older Scott, desperation in her eyes, one last time before she allows Chris to guide her up the steps into the bus.

If his blood wasn't boiling before, it certainly was now. Lucas Scott could say without hesitation that he hated Chris Keller, and he was pretty sure he always would.

Maybe he and Brooke were no longer together but the thought that she was inside the bus alone with the guy really got to him, he was sure the same could be said if it was Peyton or Haley, but he knew that wasn't his only problem. He was already thinking back to before, seeing them together that night. The memories alone were killing him. Sure he had forgiven Brooke. But he had no intention of forgiving Chris. Chris had known exactly what he was doing, he always did, and he never cared who he hurt in the process. As far as he was concerned Chris Keller could go to hell.

--

"You're even hotter than I remember." She hears him say as he slides closer. She can feel herself shudder under his touch as he brushes a stray strand of her hair away from her cheek.

"I'm not going to sleep with you. I may have been drunk before but I'm definitely not now." Her tone and words may be harsh but right now she doesn't care. Just being in his presence reminds her of how much she hates him. The way he thinks he's gods gift to women, the way he eyes her up and down as if he is mentally undressing her. He's sleazy and arrogant, and each minute she spends with him her anger at herself for ever letting him touch her increases.

"A bottle of this will help that." He says quickly getting to his feet and grabbing the nearest bottle of wine he can find.

"Eurgh you're impossible." She moans and shifts further along to increase the gap between them. "I didn't want to sleep with you back then and I sure as hell don't now." She's losing her temper and she knows it, but she can't control it, she never has been able to.

"Is there a problem?"

Her head quickly turns to the figure standing a matter of feet away.

"Just this idiot." Brooke mutters. Of course she's relieved to see him. Anyone stuck with Chris Keller for more than five seconds would be. But that feeling of relief and gratitude is soon replaced by a sense of awkwardness, and she soon finds herself wanting to escape once more. Being in the car with him had been a challenge as it was but it seemed her night wasn't about to get any easier.

She can feel him staring at her and she's not sure why. But she can't look back at into those crystal blue eyes of his. She just can't do it, at least not now anyway. Once again she is consumed with guilt over her past mistakes and it's hard for her to even look at the sandy blonde haired Scott brother whilst Chris is sitting beside her. Seeing Chris again has brought back events she wanted to forget, events she wanted to leave well and truly in the past, never to be spoken of again, and now she's scared that when she looks up at the former flame she will see that devastated and heartbroken expression he had that night all over again. It took her days to shake that image of the blonde from her head when it happened, and evidently she's still working on losing the guilt even now.

Maybe he doesn't care. Maybe it means nothing to him anymore. But it means something to her. Even now. Because she never wants to be responsible for causing someone so much hurt and heartbreak as she did to him that night. And at least looking back she can say she has learned from her mistakes and Chris Keller was one mistake she would never repeat.

"Hey don't blame me. I can't help it if you can't resist the Keller. I mean I keep telling her Luke man, but she just doesn't seem to get it, you should keep an eye on her, I mean she is your girlfriend."

"I'm not. Not anymore." Her voice was barely more than a whisper, and it had an awkward little croak to it.

Lucas wore a pained expression on his face. He felt bad for her, he really did. The last week had been rough on her to say the least, and to now come face to face with Chris of all the people, it was simply too much. She really didn't need this, that much was obvious. Well apparently to everyone but Chris Keller.

"Guess I didn't get the memo on that part." He seems so casual with his words and movements that it doesn't even seem that the musician is in the least bit sorry or awkward given the situation.

"The others should be here soon." Lucas states in an attempt to change the topic of conversation and to ease the tension that's building up.

"I can't believe this." Haley mutters as Nathan helps guide her carefully up the steps.

"Hey it's not that bad. I mean we should be grateful he even bothered to stop." Nathan reasons but he knows nothing he can say will change his wife's opinion regarding the musician.

"Nathan's right Hales, I mean what's worse being on a big comfortable tour bus for a few hours or stuck in the middle of nowhere for god knows how long." Peyton adds following Nathan's lead. Both of them know what Chris Keller is like and what to expect from him but for now they have to just be grateful that they have a ride.

"I know but it's just why _him_?" Haley asks as she comes face to face with the man in question.

"Haley!"

"Chris!"

"Wow what happened?" He asks as he continues to stare intently at the rather large bump that has appeared since he last saw her.

"She's pregnant you idiot." Nathan interrupts. He and Chris may not have parted on bad terms but that didn't mean he wasn't still irritated by the guy like the rest of them, and that didn't mean he had forgotten or forgiven the way Chris had tried to destroy his marriage. They were just not enemies anymore.

"Nathan I swear it's not mine." Chris raises his hands in his defense.

"Dawg you seen this place. He's got a TV and everything." Skills excited voice sounds as he joins the rest of them.

"And don't forget the sound system." Chris quickly adds.

He can't stop himself from rolling his eyes as he hears Chris speaks. He was still as cocky, arrogant, self involved and egotistical as ever, if not worse.

"Nathan I'm tired." Haley says as she leans lightly on her husbands shoulder to support her weary head.

"Chris is there anywhere comfortable she can sleep?" Nathan asks.

"Sure. She can take my room. I'm staying here with Brooke anyway."

This time it's Brooke's turn to roll her eyes. She's hoping she misheard him and her mind is playing tricks on her but she's pretty certain that's not the case. She glances up at the married couple, still standing side by side, and whilst she feels so much warmth in seeing them together, so in love and so blissfully happy, she's saddened as it just makes her realise how far away she is away from even coming close to what they have. A few months back she was happy, she was in love, everything was going right, and now piece by piece it had all fallen apart leaving her with virtually nothing.

"Maybe all the girls should bunk together and the guys stay out here." Lucas quickly suggests.

"No it's ok. Nathan can take my place." She offers knowing that Haley will probably want Nathan with her tonight. Truth be told she doesn't plan on getting much sleep tonight, like most nights since the attack and so she doesn't see the point in taking up a perfectly good bed.

"You sure Brooke?" Nathan asks noting how Chris seems to be shifting his way towards the brunette once again.

"Yes now go before I change my mind." He nods and soon disappears with Haley and Peyton into the room down the hall.

"And where am I supposed to sleep?" Skills asks.

"There's the beds where the crew usually sleep, they're not great but I'm sure they'll do for you." Chris answers, not taking his eyes of the brunette much to the annoyance of the older Scott brother.

"Luke you coming man?"

"I think I'm going to stay for a bit." He replies. His instincts are telling him to stay and they rarely steer him wrong. He wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, not with Brooke alone with him.

"So what happened between you two? Hang on let me guess. Brooke met someone else?"

"Try the other way around." Brooke muttered under her breath. She really didn't think she would have to go through all the details again, it was bad enough the first time with everyone running up to her asking if Lucas had cheated on her, months had passed and yet it still seemed so fresh in her mind, every single little detail.

"Are you kidding! Luke man no offense but this girl better be a goddess if you ditched Brooke for her."

He tries to catch her eye, see if he can gage how the brunette is feeling. He doesn't need to though. It's clear from her body language she's uncomfortable, her shoulders are hunched, her head lowered, her fingers are tapping on the woodwork at such a speed that instead of hearing the individual taps it's now all molding into one.

"It's Peyton." He can instantly see Brooke shift uneasily in her seat. It's not his intention to make her feel even more uncomfortable than she already is but he knows that's exactly what he has done. He wants nothing more to sit beside her and run his hand reassuringly down her back but he can't.

He wants to be friends with the brunette, close friends, like they once were. But maybe it's late for that. Maybe their friendship simply is not salvageable, and the tension and awkwardness that exists between them in the present time will still remain in the future. He hates to think like that but sometimes the truth wasn't what you wanted to hear.

"Wow. You really are a fast mover my friend." Chris raises his hand waiting for Lucas to high five him but when it doesn't come he quickly lowers his arm back down to his side.

"I'm going to bed." Brooke announces. It's obvious as to why she is leaving and he can't help but feel to blame. She edges off of the seat and to her surprise Chris stands.

"When I said I was going to bed, I meant I was going alone." She quickly adds making sure he gets the message. She can hear Lucas stifle a laugh as she turns to leave and Chris sits back down.

Its strange how out of the two Chris now seems the more harmless. She can handle him. It's Lucas that bothers her. It's been bad enough putting up with him the last few days but ever since they have set foot upon the bus the worried glances have become much more frequent. And she knows there's no easy way to put a stop to them, as every time she tries to reassure him and tells him she is fine he only seems to worry more.

'I didn't see this coming man. I mean Brooke finding someone else sure, she's got guys queuing up. But you?"

"I did love her." He answers in his defense, and now he can't help but try and think when that even changed. When did he stop loving her? When was the moment when everything changed?

"Just not anymore huh. I understand man. I mean Brooke's great in bed and she's sure hot to look at but she's not really relationship material now is she."

"The problem wasn't Brooke. It was me." His answer is honest and he's somewhat ashamed of his admission. He hates to think he was the cause of their break-up as it was Brooke who was the one to break up with him after all, but deep down he knows he caused it. And that's what's hurting him the most. Knowing that he broke her heart for the second time, long before she ever broke his.

"Why didn't you just say so. Some guys just can't keep up with a girl like that. It's nothing to be ashamed off. Of course I've never had that problem."

"I'm going to go to bed." He needs to leave before he says something he shouldn't and he knows the sooner he goes to bed the faster he can wake up and get as far away from Chris as possible.

"Don't leave. I still have some questions. Do you think I have a chance with Brooke?" He can hear Chris call out but he doesn't bother answering. Sometimes it was best to just keep walking and that's exactly what he was going to do. Walking away from Chris was easy, it was walking away from the memories that was the hardest part. And maybe on some level he just didn't want to.

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**Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews. Next chapter I will try to respond more directly to each review and answer any questions you have. Thank you again and please take the time to review as I love reading what you all think and am always looking to improve.**


	7. Not Now Maybe Not Ever

**I know, I know. Long time again. I've made this chapter longer than the others to try and make up for that so I hope I am forgiven. Anyway I won't keep you any longer :)**

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It's 7:08 when she wakes. She's had about three hours sleep, or at least that's what she thinks. Once she had gone to bed she had waited, waited for the sound of his footsteps as he approached his bed, waited for the familiar sounds of him snoring, waited until it was safe. For only then could she relax, only then could she begin to give in to the tiredness and let her heavy eyelids close. She's scared to sleep at night, she's scared of the others finding out she's having nightmares, she's scared of them finding out she's not coping at all.

It's early and she expects the others to still be fast asleep. At least she knows that's what she would usually be doing. But this last week nothing seems normal anymore, everything has changed. She knows it shouldn't have, that she's still the same Brooke deep down, but right now she really doesn't feel like it.

She climbs to her feet and attempts to smooth out some of the creases that have appeared in her clothes. None of them had thought to actually bring a change of clothes onto the bus, instead all of their belongings were in the luggage compartment which right now was rather unhelpful considering they were still moving and unable to get to them.

"Breakfast?" To say she's taken aback by the blonde standing before her would be an understatement. And not only is he awake, he's making breakfast.

"You're up early." She comments and dodges the question. At least she could understand why she was having trouble sleeping, what was his excuse?

"I could say the same for you. I thought you hated mornings." He frowns as he remembers how she used to moan at him for waking her, and how she would always ask for another five minutes, which soon turned into ten. Brooke would never get up at this time, at least not voluntarily. And that's why he's confused by her appearance now. It's almost like it's a different Brooke, and he can't help but wish for the old Brooke to return, the one he fell in love with.

"Yeah well things change." She shrugs her shoulders and takes a seat at the table. Why should she have to explain her every move to him. It's none of his business. He made his decision and he didn't choose her, he was just going to have to learn he couldn't have it both ways.

"So you want some?" He asks as he begins to pour some milk into the bowl of cereal. He's more than aware that the brunette has hardly eaten since they left yesterday, sure she's had the odd snack, but nothing more than that.

"I think I'll pass." Her nose scrunches up as she watches him finish pouring the milk. "What happened to him?" His eyes follow hers to the figure lying across from them.

"He must have had a few too many after I went to bed" He shrugs. And immediately feels the need to change the topic of conversation. Why would he want to spend time talking about the passed out figure laying across from him when there was so many other things he could be talking about, important things, stuff that actually mattered.. "So did you sleep well?" He asks upon noticing the dark circles under the brunette's eyes.

"Not really." She sighs knowing that he's sure to have noticed the rings that had formed under her eyes. If she had known people were up then she would have applied her make up before making her appearance but it's too late now.

"Me either. My backs killing me from sleeping on that thing."

She nods. Of course he meant the bed. How could she possibly think he meant anything else. She wishes she could blame a bad bed for her tired eyes but sadly her problems ran a lot deeper than that.

"You sure I can't tempt you with some cereal? You hardly ate yesterday when we stopped at the services." He knows this because she had conveniently decided she needed some air just as they had gone inside to get something to eat, and she never returned, the next time he saw her she was back at the car, he'd seen her leaning against the car the second he turned the corner. They'd brought her some snacks to tide her over, Haley's idea of course. But now staring at the girl before him he knows she must be hungry, it's virtually impossible for her not to be when you took into consideration how little she had had the previous evening.

"Ok fine, but not too much." She's hesitant in her reply but she figures it's easier to just give in. It's way too early to start yet another argument with the older Scott brother.

Her response takes him by surprise. He's not used to the brunette giving in so easily, and he's actually a little disappointed, not that he likes arguing but more that he's become accustomed to the brunette's stubbornness and refusal to give in. "You're not going on a diet are you?" He jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood a little as he retrieves a bowl for her cereal.

Instead the brunette squirms awkwardly in her seat. "No why do you think I need to?"

This is so unlike the Brooke he's used to that he finds himself stumbling over his words in his reply. "No no. I mean you look great. You just haven't been eating so much lately that's all."

"I didn't realise you were my doctor now." She bites back.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that. I just noticed that's all." He never meant to anger or upset her but he knows it's too late, he already has. And now all he can do is watch the brunette as she continues to work herself up.

"Yeah well in case you forgot I was attacked last week and maybe I have more important things on my mind."

"God Brooke. Why do you think I've been trying so hard to get you to open up? I'm worried sick about you. And every time I think I'm getting somewhere you clam back up and start insisting you're fine."

"Please can you just drop it?" She asks as she takes the bowl of cereal that he's been holding for the last two minutes, clearly unsure of whether or not she still wanted it.

"I'll drop it." He sighs but then turns to look the brunette right in the eyes. "But only if we can finish that conversation we were having yesterday."

"I'm over it." She shrugs as she digs her spoon into her bowl. She wasn't ready for this conversation last night and she's still not ready now. She should never have asked him why he told her to play the song, she should never have shown it bothered her. But it was much too late to take it back now.

He knows it's up to him. It's becoming quite apparent that if it was down to Brooke they would never finish the conversation they had been having the previous night, but it was important to him that they did. She didn't have to talk, he just wanted her to listen, he wanted to explain to her why he did it. It clearly mattered to her as she would never have asked him about it in the first place if it meant nothing.

"I guess the honest answer is I don't know. Something inside me just went and before I knew it the words had left my mouth." He pauses before continuing on the off chance she may actually want to talk. But he's not holding his breath.

To his surprise though just as he opens his mouth to speak the brunette breaks her silence.

"Do you seriously expect me to buy that? You've had all night and that's the best you can come up with? Why not just admit it Lucas. Why can't you just say why you really did it?" She demands. If it's one thing that she has learned it's that Lucas Scott is a liar and his words are not to be trusted. She knows that better than anyone.

"I don't think I understand." He stutters.

"Yeah well I guess that's something we both have in common then because I'm still trying to figure out why even now when your with Peyton you're trying to hurt me."

"Hurt you? Brooke I would never do that." He's in shock. How could she think that? Did she really have that low of an opinion of him?

"And here we go with another lie. In case you haven't noticed Lucas all have you've done is hurt me." She snaps back. Of course he had hurt her, he could at least acknowledge that, did he think that the slate had been wiped clean and that what he and Peyton did behind her back no longer hurt? Could he honestly expect her not to feel hurt at how quickly he and Peyton had gotten together after she had broken up with him?

"Do you honestly believe that Brooke? Do you truly believe that the whole time we were together that I was trying to hurt you?"

She shakes her head. Deep down she knows there were good times and that he at least thought he loved her. But it didn't make it any easier on her, and that didn't mean he hadn't hurt her now they were apart. Because he had. More so than he could possibly imagine.

"I knew I heard voices." The pregnant female states as she appears down the narrow walkway.

"I'm sorry Hales. We didn't mean to wake you." He says as his best friend takes a seat next to the brunette.

"Actually it was this little one that's to blame for that. He's kicking like mad this morning. I think someone might be hungry."

Brooke lets out a little smile as she watches her friend rub a soothing hand over the every growing baby bump. She's happy for her. And she knows she's going to make an excellent mom. But at the same time there's a tint of sadness in her smile as she thinks about how it could have been her in the pregnant woman's position. And maybe part of her wishes it was. Maybe if it had been then her and Lucas would still be together and about to be the ones starting a family rather than him being with Peyton and her feeling more lonely and afraid than she had ever felt in her life.

"You want me to get you something?" He asks.

"That would be good. Thanks Luke." The mother to be responds.

"Cereal ok?"

"That's fine." Haley answers before turning her attention to the brunette. "So what were you two talking about?" It's an innocent question and she doesn't mean to pry but she knows whatever it was had to have been serious as she had been able to hear their voice from all the way in the back.

"We were just guessing how much Chris had to drink last night." She replies as the passed out figure catches her eye once more. She hates lying to her friend but what can she do. Even if she did tell her what they were talking about she had a feeling Haley would take his side, they were best-friends, of course she would.

"And there was me thinking you were having a deep and meaningful conversation." Haley jokes. The brunette is obviously lying. She's not mad though, or even upset, she's worried. But she knows if the brunette wants to talk then she'll come to her. And that's all she can do. Just wait. There was no point in probing and pushing the brunette because as had learned rather quickly, that just makes it worse

--

"That's the last one." Nathan groans as he picks up the last bag out of the luggage department and places it down on the grass next to the rest of them.

"So what do we do now? We can't just stand here." She asks as she takes in her new surroundings. It seemed like a quiet town from what she could see, smaller than Tree Hill that was for sure, but that wasn't a bad thing. Maybe being away from Tree Hill was just what she needed.

"Well the car's not going to be fixed until morning." He'd given up on waiting for Chris to wake up and had called a garage to fix the car shortly before the rest of the group had woken. Luckily the driver was able to provide them with the location details they needed in order for the garage to be able to go and collect the vehicle so now all they had to do was wait.

"And there's no way I'm going to sleep on that thing." The brunette commented as she pointed to the bus with the still sleeping Chris Keller still on board.

"Right. So why don't we go to the nearest motel and get some rooms for the night." Haley suggested. For one night it was just about bearable but she knew if they spent any more time on that bus then it would only be a matter of time before one of them cracked.

"Ok well that looks like one down the road so why don't me and Peyton go and check it out." Nathan adds as he looks down the road and tries to make out the green and white coloured sign.

"And we'll go and find Mouth." He suggests as he moves over to where Skills is standing.

"So it looks like you're stuck with me tutor-mom." The brunette comments as she wraps an arm around Haley's shoulders.

"How we gonna do this then? You two love birds sharing a room?" Skills asks switching his gaze from Lucas to Peyton.

"Actually I was thinking I would stay with Brooke." The blonde's answer surprises her at first and but she soon understands the decision. For Peyton has not chosen her her over her own boyfriend, it's not about that at all. Her and Peyton had been through something, and it was something no one else could even begin to understand, not even Lucas. They had only had each other that night and they hadn't spent a night apart since. It seemed the blonde simply wasn't ready to break away just yet.

"Tough break dawg, guess you're stuck with me." Skills jokes patting him on the shoulder as he walks past.

--

"What's taking them so long?" She asks impatiently. They've been standing on the roadside for twenty minutes now waiting for the others to return. It doesn't bother her so much that the others are taking a long time, it's more that her and Haley have just been left to stand at the roadside with the bags in a town they don't know and with the possibility of Chris waking up any second.

"I'm sure they'll be back as soon as they can." Haley replies calmly.

"Well they could have at least called and told us how long they were going to be."

"They probably just got held up, I'm sure they won't be much longer."

She pauses, realising she's probably over reacting. "You're right……Sorry I guess I'm still a little bit tired." She reasons.

"You sure that's all it is?" Haley asks clearly unconvinced of the explanation given to her.

"What do you mean?" She questions. But she knows exactly what her friend means. She should have known either Lucas or Nathan would have mentioned their concerns about her to Haley, of course they would, how could she expect them not to, they seemed to tell each other everything. She used to have a person she would do that with too, not anymore though.

"I don't know. You just don't seem yourself Tigger." Haley couldn't quite put her finger on what had changed in the brunette, but there was definitely something different. Something wrong.

"It's been a tough week." Was all she could say.

This only worried Haley further, causing her to move closer to the brunette and follow her lead by leaning against the exterior of the bus. "You're doing ok though aren't you Brooke?"

"Sure. You know me. It will take more to break me than some crazy stalker." She jokes, but neither laugh. Instead Haley just offers a weak smile and places her right arm around Brooke's shoulders knowing there is nothing more she can do. "That's what I thought."

It's killing her that she's lying to Haley but she doesn't know what else she can do. Haley has enough on her plate as it is, she doesn't need her problems added to that. She has to deal with this on her own, the only one who can save her is herself. "Honestly I just want to get back to normal. I mean I can't stay at Lucas' for much longer. I already feel like I've over stayed my welcome."

"I'm sure Lucas doesn't think that." Haley reassures her. She knows Brooke could never overstay her welcome where Lucas is concerned and she's rather shocked the brunette could actually believe that she had. It's worrying her that the brunette seems to be keeping so much bottled up inside instead of talking it all through with someone. Surely that wasn't healthy.

"Yeah but _I_ do. And Lucas and Peyton deserve some alone time you know. They shouldn't have to worry about me walking in on them. They should get to be happy."

"Does Lucas know you feel like this?"

"I told them yesterday. Peyton said she still needed me but I'm sure she'll be fine, she's probably just saying that to make me feel wanted. I mean she'll still have Lucas. And Rachel's parents won't be back for at least another week so I figured I could stay there until I find somewhere else to live."

Haley takes in Brooke's words, removes her arm from around the brunette's shoulders and moves so she is standing directly in front of her. "Well I might be able to help you there."

"Haley you and Nathan need your own space. The apartment is cramped as it is, I couldn't impose on the two of you like that."

"What if Nathan and I weren't living there?"

Her eyes narrow in confusion. "Huh?" Why wouldn't Haley and Nathan be living there, that was their home.

"Well Deb's just got out of rehab and we were thinking maybe we should move in with her permanently, well at least until the baby's born anyway. I mean she's going to need people around her, and we need to save some money for when this baby comes. The apartment's yours if you want it."

"I don't know what to say."

"Yes would be a good start."

"Thank you." The brunette wraps her arms around her pregnant friend. It may not seem like much but Haley had just done a wonder of good. She had said she could stay at Rachel's after moving out from Luca's, but that was a lie. Rachel had sent her a text a few days ago to warn Brooke that her parents would be back at the end of the week. Which meant that by the time they got back to Tree Hill Brooke would have one day to move out and find somewhere else to live. Of course she hadn't told the others this, But now it looked like she didn't need to. She had a place to live, a place of her own, a place where she didn't have to answer to Rachel or Lucas or her parents.

"Yeah well it's the least I could do. And hey at least it stops you from staying at Rachel's. Seriously the further away you are from her the better." Haley laughed breaking the embrace.

"She was a good friend to me." Brooke reminds her, not liking the others to talk badly about the one person who had actually been there for her over the past few months.

"Brooke the only person Rachel cared about was herself. She got what was coming to her." Haley counters, the warm smile which had been present a matter of seconds ago has now gone. Brooke understands Haley didn't get on with Rachel, hell if Rachel had tried stealing her husband away Brooke would have killed her. But she knows this runs deeper than that. Haley saw Rachel as the cause of all her problems. Usually Haley could see good in anyone, but not Rachel. And it was becoming apparent that it didn't matter how many times Brooke told her what a good friend she had been to her, nothing was going to change Haley's opinion of Rachel.

"Ready to go?" Nathan's voice asks taking both girls by surprise. He gently wraps his arm around his wife's waist and pulls her to him. Brooke smiles at the happy couple. She would do anything to have what they have, to have someone who was as protective over her as Nathan was over Haley. Sure it would probably drive her crazy, but it would just be nice to have someone that cared that much about her, to have someone that would do anything to protect her and keep her from harm's way. But as it was becoming increasingly obvious, she didn't have that someone. She was just going to have to reply on herself.

"See I told you they wouldn't be long." Haley says as she untangles herself from her husband's grip.

"We would have been back sooner had the woman at reception not been on the phone for so long. I'm sure she was doing it deliberately." Peyton explains.

"Lucas and Skills aren't back yet. We can't just leave their stuff here." Haley reminds them as Nathan starts to pick up their bags.

"I don't mind staying." She volunteers. She's not even sure why. A few minutes ago she was desperate for the others to return but now, now she's ok, now she's quite happy to wait and lap up the beautiful sunshine. Maybe knowing that she now had somewhere to live was part of it. Maybe everything was going to be ok after all.

"You sure? We can wait with you if you want." Nathan is quick to offer.

"I'll be fine." She assures him. She's grateful for the offer but there was no point in them all staying. And it's not like she was actually doing anything big, she just had to stand and wait for the boys to return. No big deal. Actually that was a lie. This was a big step for her, it would be the first time she was actually on her own since moving into Lucas' house, but this would be good for her. She couldn't live her life in fear.

"Ok well we'll take some of the bags to the rooms then. Just call us if you need anything." Nathan adds as he and the two girls grab their bags.

"Just follow the road and stop when you get to that green diamond shaped sign. We're room number 22." Peyton adds before going to catch the married couple up. The brunette nods and watches the three walk away. She wonders why it has taken her so long to realise what a beautiful day it actually was, it was the best day they had had in a long time, and she didn't just mean by the weather. Maybe this was her turning point. The point where she got her life back on track and everything started to make sense again.

--

"You on your own?" He asks. She jumps a little, clearly startled by his arrival.

"What is it with the Scott brothers coming up behind me and scaring me." She mutters clambering to her feet having earlier decided that her legs were beginning to hurt and she would be better off sitting on the road's edge.

"Sorry I didn't think." He offers her an apologetic smile. Scaring her had certainly not been his intention. He'd been walking on eggshells every since the attack, careful not to frighten either girl, making sure everything was locked at night, checking out any sounds they might hear during the night, he'd even leave notes when he got up to make breakfast or shower so they knew where he was. He never wanted to be the one responsible for putting that fear into either girls eyes.

"Sounds familiar." Brooke smiled as she remembered the younger Scott's words the previous day.

"So where is everyone? He asks, surprised to find the brunette on her own. Haley was surely around somewhere.

"They went to the rooms and took some of the bags." She explains.

"And you got left here?" He asks, and she can instantly hear the judgmental tone in his voice.

"I volunteered." She's quick to add. It wasn't the other's fault she was here on her own, she had told them to go. If Lucas wanted to judge anyone, he could judge her. Then again that clearly wasn't a problem for him as he seemed to be doing a lot of that recently.

"We found Mouth."

"Is he ok?" She had been so wrapped up in her own problems she had almost forgotten the reason they were here in the first place. Mouth. Now there was someone who had always been a friend to her, even when her and Lucas had parted and he had had the perfect opportunity to cut his ties with her, he had remained by her side. Sometimes she even felt Mouth was closer to her than he was to Lucas, someone who he had grown up with and spent the majority of his life with. That's how good a friend Mouth had become to her.

"He's fine. He's just a little down about Rachel ditching him but I'm sure he'll be fine. I said I would take Skills' bags as they went for a walk. I guess Mouth needed it after being stuck in that cell all night."

"What? Hold on. Mouth was in jail?" He had to be joking right? Mouth and jail just didn't go. There had to be some mistake. And did he just say Rachel had ditched Mouth? Why hadn't the redhead text her and told her. How could she do that to Mouth?

"For sleeping on a park bench." He answers trying his best not to laugh at just how ridiculous this all was. They had had to come all this way, ended up on a bus with Chris Keller, all to rescue Mouth from jail because he had been ditched by Rachel and slept on a park bench. You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried.

"And there was me thinking for a second Mouth had come across to the dark side." Brooke joked. Of course in the beginning she had tried to corrupt him, but she soon became glad she had been unsuccessful in her attempts to lure him to the dark side. Mouth was just the friend she needed, dependable, honest, and trustworthy. And she wouldn't change him for the world.

"Nope he's still the same Mouth." He smiles.

"I guess we should shift these bags then." Brooke sighs as she walks over to where Nathan had placed down her bags when he had unloaded them from the bus.

"Aren't they coming back to help?" He asks as he looks at the large numbers of bags that still remained.

"I don't think so." She shrugs.

"So what, you're expected to carry their bags?"

"Actually this is all mine." She answers sheepishly. She knows the truth about her extra bag is about to come out and there is nothing she could do about it.

"I thought that was Nathan's?" He questions. He was sure he had seen Nathan load the blue bag into the car before they left his house.

"It's mine…… He just pretended it was his so no one would complain about me bringing extra." She smiles weakly hoping Lucas will understand.

"Why am I not surprised?" He laughs. He should have seen this one coming. A typical Brooke Davis move.

His laughter is infectious and the brunette can't help but see the funny side too. "I can't help it ok. I never travel light."

"No kidding." He smiles. He's no longer smiling about the extra bag, he's smiling because she's smiling. No fake smile, a real genuine smile. A smile that he had been longing to see.

"Guess we better get moving then." He suggests as he throws Skills bag over his shoulder and picks up his own bag with his other hand.

"You can start walking. I'll catch you up." She tells him. He begins to walk away glancing over his shoulder back at the brunette as he does so.

She picks up her first bag and puts it on her left shoulder. Her right shoulder was still sore from when she had been slammed into the wall. Lucas had typically picked up on it rather quickly and suggested she had it checked out but she had refused and told him it would be just fine in a few days. She then leans down and picks up the remaining two bags, taking one in each arm, but as she does so the bag which she had previously placed on her shoulder falls to the ground. She groans and throws the other two bags down before crouching down next to them.

"You need some help?" She looks up and there he is.

"I can manage." She assures him. She was not some damsel in distress. Maybe she would have to take two trips. But nevertheless she could manage.

"Brooke." He sighs. He knows this act inside out. She's so independent that she hates accepting help from anyone else, even when she needs it. But this time he is not backing down. He extends his arm to the brunette to help her off the ground.

She looks once more at the bags and then back at his hand. She raises her hand and places it in his, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"Fine. You can take this one. We'll just call it payback for sneaking up on me."

--

"You ok from here?" He asks as he hands her back one of the bags. Half way here Brooke had decided that he had got off easy and that she needed to add to his punishment by making him carry yet another one of her bags. Of course that was code for my arms are starting to hurt and if you don't take one then we are going to have to stop. He took the second bag that was placed on his shoulder and carefully placed it onto the brunettes, making sure he placed it on the correct shoulder. He still saw her wince from time to time so he knew her shoulder wasn't right still, he just wish she would tell him and let him go with her to get it checked out.

"Yeah I think I can manage the few steps to my room." She answers. And there it was again. That smile.

"Well I'm in room 13 if you or Peyton need me." And there was the reminder that she needed. Peyton. Her best-friend. His girlfriend. This wasn't just about them. Maybe she did enjoy his company, maybe he did make her smile, maybe he was the only one who seemed to understand her and maybe he was the only one who would ever make her heart flutter like this. But in the end that meant nothing. It couldn't. She just wouldn't let it.

"I'm sure we'll survive one night without Lucas Scott."

"I know you will. But if you do need anything you know where I am."

She did need something. But he definitely couldn't give it to her. Not now. Maybe not ever.

* * *

Please say you liked it? I'm trying not to rush through anything so I apologise if the chapters are slow paced but I think it needs to be this way

Now on to the more personal responses to reviews that I said I would in the last update. I couldn't go through every review forme very chapter so I just tried to go through the more recent reviews. I'm apologise in advance if I have missed anyone out, send me a message and I will be sure to add you in the next one.

**Brucas2006**- Thank you so much for your regular reviews. I am so glad you are enjoying the story. I know Chris is a jerk but no one is all bad so you will definitely be seeing a nicer side. And I have to admit I have a soft spot for Chris Keller too lol

**superstargirl7**- I promise there will be a lot more of that in the coming chapters. I am trying to keep a good balance of her dealing with the attack but also Rachel's departure, Lucas and Peyton's relationship etc.

**evergloweyes**- You wanted some BL alone time so I hope you were at least slightly pleased. I'm sorry I had to have Haley interrupt lol. To answer your question I haven't worked out exactly how long this story will be just yet. But this will be chapter 7 and so I'm thinking at least another 10 chapters, probably more. I am so glad you liked that line. It's just so heartbreaking.

**onetreehillgirl066**- lmao. Now that would be funny. But unfortunately I don't think it will really fit in with what I want to do, but you never know right...

**othfan326**- I know exactly what you mean. It was like they had just erased all feelings Lucas had for Brooke. I never felt we ever got to hear or see what Lucas was really thinking and how he truly felt about BL breakup. I guess that's one of the reasons why I wanted to write this.

**oth234234**- Obviously I don't want to spoil the ending and I am a BL fan so I'll just say that I think you will like it but you will have to keep reading and find out for yourself :)

**Brucas lover**- I love them too. I really wish we saw more of them as friends on the actual show.

**BRUCAS123**- Now now now you don't want to spoil it for you right? I know I didn't reveal it in this chapter but let's just say you may find out later on in the story :)

**FinallyPJ**- I know the feeling. I would have loved to have seen Lucas taking care of Brooke after the attack. Instead all we got was a whole lot of BP and seeing how Peyton was feeling.

**stefybboh**- I hope you are still reading and haven't given up on this story. And I agree. I am fed up of seeing Peyton mope all the time about every little thing that's gone against her. Seriously that girl needs to get a grip. Anyway on a happier note I love the BN friendship too, and of course I love BL lol

And a big thank you for reading my story and the reviewing to:

**brookenlucas4eva03, brucas224, brucas333, lusciiousx3hsm, brucas333, B.P.Davis, Brooke6404, BDavis427, othfan22, Kajal, babymomo79, Brucas True Love, 23KT23, QuieraStrawberry9, oth rox, princetongirl, -x-becki-bbe-x-, wtlozy**


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